Alvin and Judith Neelley, who were both convicted of murder, in an undated photo.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama --- Convicted killer Judith Ann Neelley, spared from the electric chair by former Gov. Fob James 15 years ago, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a state law that was intended to make sure she was not eligible for parole.

James, without explanation or comment, commuted Neelley’s death sentence to a life sentence just before leaving the governor's office in 1999. That made Neelley eligible for parole starting this year.

But in 2003, the Alabama Legislature passed a bill that effectively changed her sentence from life to life without parole.

Neelley’s new lawsuit, filed April 10 in federal court in Montgomery, says the U.S. Constitution prohibits a legislature from retroactively increasing a person’s punishment.

Neelley, originally from Murfreesboro, Tenn., was convicted of capital murder in the 1982 slaying of 13-year-old Lisa Ann Millican. Neelley and her then-husband, Alvin Neelley, kidnapped the girl from a shopping mall in Georgia. Testimony revealed the child was raped and that Judith Neelley injected her with drain cleaner, shot her and shoved her into Little River Canyon in northeast Alabama.

The couple was also convicted in the death of a Georgia woman.

A DeKalb County jury recommended life without parole for Neelley in Millican’s death, but the judge sentenced her to the electric chair.

On Jan. 15, 1999, James commuted her sentence to life imprisonment. That was just a few days after the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected an appeal by Neelley.

James' decision sparked outrage from some at the time, including DeKalb County District Attorney Richard Igou, who prosecuted the case.

"There was never another one like it for depravity, cruelty and just absolute evil," Igou said.

According to Neelley's new lawsuit, state law at the time of James' decision said that any person whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment could be eligible for parole in 15 years.

But the Legislature changed the law in 2003 to say that any person whose death sentence has been commuted by the governor “shall not be eligible for parole.”

The law was written to take effect retroactively, on Sept. 1, 1998.

The law was directed at Neelley, since she was the only person whose death sentence had been commuted by a governor since 1998. In fact, she is the only person to have a death sentence commuted since 1962, according to the lawsuit.

“The retroactive application of Act 2003-300 was a vindictive and politically motivated response to Governor James’ commutation of Neelley’s death sentence,” the lawsuit says.

In January of this year, Neelley’s counsel asked the Board of Pardons and Paroles to set a parole hearing. The board sought guidance from the attorney general’s office, which issued an opinion March 31 that Neelley was not eligible for parole because of the 2003 law.

Barry Ragsdale, one of Neelley’s lawyers, said that even if Neelley stands little chance of ever being paroled, it’s important to overturn the retroactive law directed at her.

“If you’ve been in prison for 30 years the difference between knowing you might have an opportunity, even a very slim one, and being told that you have no opportunity for parole, is a big one,” Ragsdale said.

Ragsdale said the case has been assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Terry Moorer. He said the next step in the case will likely be the state’s response to Neelley’s claim. Ragsdale said he thought there was a good chance the judge could make a ruling later this year.

“I think the law on this subject is pretty clear,” Ragsdale said.

The lawsuit claims the 2003 law violates prohibitions in the U.S. and state
constitutions against retroactive or "ex post facto" laws.

Ragsdale said he has represented Neelley since about 1989, although he had not been involved in the case for the last 15 years until this year. He noted that Neelley was 18 years old at the time of the crimes.

“None of us are the same people we were 30 years ago,” he said.

Montgomery attorney Julian McPhillips is also representing Neelley. But Ragsdale said Neelley is the driving force in the case and understands her basic constitutional rights.

“The lawyers who are working for free in this case are definitely not the driving force,” Ragsdale said.

Even if Neelley was granted parole in Alabama, she would face prison time in Georgia for the murder of 22-year-old Janice Chatman of Rome, Ga. Neelley pleaded guilty in that case and agreed to testify against her husband, Ragsdale said. Alvin Neelley died in prison in Georgia in 2005.